Gosnell: the Tip of the Abortion Iceberg

As the evidence mounts, one is left wondering whether Kermit Gosnell’s “house of horrors” is unique, or whether his clinic is merely a very ugly tip of a very ugly iceberg—the abortion industry?

Due in no small degree to continued pressure from pro-life advocates, there has been an increase in media coverage of the unfolding story of abortionist Kermit Gosnell. (LLDF and many other groups strongly condemned the media silence on this “trial of the century.”) Now more than a month into the trial, the jury has completed its second week of deliberations on charges against Gosnell and his employees. The number and variety of crimes charged and the amount of evidence before the jury combine to create a lengthy deliberation process. (See the Grand Jury Report.)

Simultaneous to the trial, evidence is surfacing that Gosnell may not have been an outlier in his practices. He is not alone in running a shoddy, substandard clinic. He is not alone in ignoring basic health and safety regulations. He is not alone in endangering the lives of the women who come to him as patients. And he is not alone in his willingness to kill “unwanted” children – whether or not they are living and breathing outside their mothers’ wombs.

On April 10, 2013 a Delaware Planned Parenthood clinic was forced to close after employees blew the whistle on the conditions in which it was operating. The employees stated that the clinic was “ridiculously unsafe.” Practices included reuse of surgical instruments without cleaning between patients. At least five women have been injured in the past five weeks alone at this clinic.

Currently, the state of Alabama is suing an abortion clinic in Birmingham for operating without proper licensure – this same clinic was shut down a year ago for failure to follow basic health and safety regulations. LLDF continues to work with local Pro-Life advocates to expose the truth about this unsafe clinic.

One of the most shocking revelations of the past few weeks is that leaders in the abortion industry are willing to kill children born alive following attempted abortion. The investigative journalists at Live Action have released new undercover videos showing that Gosnell is far from alone in his callous disregard for human life—even of lives unequivocally protected by law.

Even Congress has taken notice: two House Committees have launched nationwide investigations of the “regulatory collapse” that allowed Gosnell to go undetected for decades. These investigations are seeking evidence from other states as to what is being done to ensure such regulatory collapse does not continue to occur.

These investigations are a welcome response from lawmakers. Even as events of the past few weeks indicate, although Gosnell may have been a step more barbaric than his counterparts throughout the nation (such as snipping babies’ necks and keeping fetal remains—including severed feet— throughout his clinic), his house of horrors at 3801 Lancaster in West Philadelphia is but the tip of the iceberg. The industry itself is built of barbarity, cruelty and disrespect for both women and children.